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Old 03-16-2019, 03:58 AM  
Oreocookie
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: North of Germany
Posts: 8
Default Introducing MuShu

Hello to all Chinese hamster owners - and all other hamster lovers, too☺
I introduced myself already in the newbee section.
After many decades I decided that I wanted to have a Chinese hamster again. And I realized that it ist very difficult in Germany to find Chinese hamsters. There are only a very few private breeders, zoo shops offer them only very rarely, and since they are so hard to get hold of in the first place, rescues are hard to find. I was very lucky to find a gorgeous four months old dominant spot girl, whom I called MuShu. MuShu is of course the adorable dragon from Disney's "Mulan". But while it's also the word for a very popular Chinese dish, it means "she-rat" or "she-mouse" if one intonates the syllables differently. And Chinese hamsters with their little tails definitely look a bit like small rats or mice ☺ And she does look a bit like a crushed Oreo Cookie - thus my moniker.
I can't post a picture of MuShu, yet, because she ist still very shy, and only shows herself above ground when it's getting dark, and she is spooked by bright lights. She's not at all afraid of me or my hands, though, which is very encouraging. She accepted food from my hands from the very first day, and I can pick her up for short moments without alienating her. So, I don't think that she had any bad experiences with humans. But she likes to remain mostly under the ground in various nests she has constructed for herself. She only rarely climbs and she doesn't use her wheel at all. I have the suspicion that she has never been introduced to any toys when she was a baby.
How I can encourage her to make more use of her enviroment? She's with me for two weeks now. I know that this is not a long time, and she's still young. But I really wish she would find more things to do for herself. All my other hamsters - including my adorable Winterwhite fluff ball - gravitated immediately towards their wheels.
Do you have any suggestions? She has enough things to hide herself in her cage. So it's not likely that she ist spooked by too much open space. I try to encourage her to come out of hiding by placing her food in the open and a bit away from her nests. She needs to come out in order to get it.

Last edited by Oreocookie; 03-16-2019 at 04:12 AM. Reason: Spelling mistake
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